By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech men's basketball team returns to Ohio Valley Conference play Wednesday evening, closing out the calendar year with a home tilt against Southeast Missouri.
Tip is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. CT in the Eblen Center and will follow the Golden Eagle women's basketball contest with the Redhawks, slated for a 5:00 p.m. start.
Tennessee Tech (0-9, 0-2) vs. Southeast Missouri (2-5, 0-1)
Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020
8:00 p.m. CT
Eblen Center – Cookeville, Tenn.
The Broadcasts
TV: None
Radio: 106.1 The Eagle (Roger Ealey)
Webcast: ESPN+ (Buddy Pearson & Michael Cooper)
Game Notes
Tennessee Tech
Southeast Missouri
SERIES/OPPONENT NOTES
Wednesday marks the 54th meeting all-time between Tech and Southeast Missouri, with the Golden Eagles owning a 35-18 lead in the series.
In Cookeville, Tech holds a 22-5 advantage, including wins in each of the last three match-ups in the Eblen Center.
The Golden Eagles took care of business in each of the two teams' match-ups during the 2019-20 campaign and have won three of the past four tilts between the two programs.
Tech won a nail biter in Cape Girardeau, Mo. on Feb. 8 of last season, defeating the Redhawks 62-60 thanks to a couple of free throws from then-freshman Dane Quest with five seconds to play.
Jr. Clay posted 11 points in the affair while former Golden Eagle Garrett Golday paced the squad with 13 points on 6-for-9 shooting.
Things came a touch easier in the rematch in Cookeville on Feb. 22, as the purple and gold took a 71-62 win to the bank, the team's last of the 2019-20 season.
Keishawn Davidson took his turn leading the Tech offense, scoring a team-high 14 points while dishing out four helpers. Jr. Clay added 12 points and a team-high seven assists off the bench, allowing guard Tyler Thompson to take the start on Senior Day.
Tujautae Williams chipped in 12 points and six boards while Amadou Sylla tossed in 10 points and six rebounds, both off the bench. Senior Darius Allen added 10 points as well to make it five Golden Eagles in double figures.
This marks the earliest match-up between to the programs since the 2010-11 season, a 77-75 SEMO victory in Cookeville on Dec. 21, 2010.
The two teams will square off a second time this season with a Feb. 4, 2020 match-up scheduled in Cape Girardeau.
QUICK HITTERS
Jr. Clay led Tech with a team-high 15 points, all in the second half, at WKU. He also dished out three dimes with a pair of steals.
Damaria Franklin added 14 points, nine of which came in the first half. Amadou Sylla corralled nine rebounds off the bench while Shandon Goldman tallied 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting.
A year after facing nine opponents who had won 20 games the previous season, Tech loaded up on a tough gauntlet yet again for the 2020-21 campaign.
Six of Tech's seven non-conference opponents won at least 19 games a season ago, with No. 10-ranked Tennessee as the only team with less (17).
Six of Tech's seven non-conference games came on the road, with the match-up against in-state rival Chattanooga the lone tilt in the Eblen Center.
At the conclusion of its final non-conference tilt at Western Kentucky, Tech's seven foes not in the OVC have combined for a 45-13 mark so far in 2020-21.
OVC opponents Austin Peay, Belmont and Murray State each compiled 21 or more wins a season ago and will square off with Tech twice this season, just adding to the incredibly challenging slate in 2020-21.
Through six games, Tech already has more double-doubles (three) as it did all of last season (two).
Tech was predicted to finish 9th overall in the 2020-21 OVC race in voting by the league's head coaches and SIDs. The Golden Eagles were selected to finish 8th in the OVC media poll.
Last season, Jr. Clay and Keishawn Davidson became the first pair of Tech teammates to each total at least 100 assists in the same season since 2001-02. That year, Cameron Crisp dished out 122 dimes while DeAntoine Beasley doled out 104 assists.
With an 83-70 win over Martin Methodist on November 9, 2019, Tech head coach John Pelphrey earned his first victory as the leader of the Golden Eagle program.
Pelphrey, who was named the 13th head coach in Golden Eagle history in April, also earned career win No. 150 on the night, the same day the Tech football team earned its 150th victory in Tucker Stadium on the day they celebrated the 150th anniversary of college football.
Both Davidson and Sylla were honored by the OVC on Nov. 11, picking up two of the league's first three weekly honors of the 2019-20 campaign. Davidson was named OVC Freshman of the Week while Sylla was recognized as the OVC Newcomer of the Week.
It marked the first time since 2015-16 that Tech claimed two of the OVC's three weekly accolades. The last time it occurred was Feb. 1, 2016 when Torrance Rowe won OVC Player of the Week and both Ryan Martin and Hakeem Rogers shared OVC Newcomer of the Week honors.
TOP IN THEIR STATES
Three of Tech's players for the 2020-21 season boast a particularly impressive feat as part of their respective resumes, all finishing as finalists for the Mr. Basketball Award for their state during their high school careers.
Junior guard Jr. Clay was a two-time finalist at the TSSAA Division II Class AA level while at The McCallie School in Chattanooga, earning the honor in 2017 and again in 2018.
Transfer sophomore guard CJ Gettelfinger was one of three finalists at the TSSAA Division II Class A level in 2018 while competing for Grace Christian Academy in Knoxville.
Freshman forward Kenny White Jr. was named a finalist for Kentucky's Mr. Basketball Award in 2020 while starring for Madisonville-North Hopkins High School in Madisonville, Ky.
Head coach John Pelphrey, a University of Kentucky Hall of Famer, was a Mr. Basketball Award winner during his high school days, claiming the honor for Paintsville High School in 1987.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN
The 2020-21 Tech roster features 15 players (13 scholarship student-athletes) representing six states and three countries.
Six Golden Eagle players hail from the state Tennessee, while Arkansas and Illinois each boast two Tech players. Alabama, California and Kentucky are represented by one Tech player each.
Two international players round out the roster, including one Golden Eagle from Canada and another from Mali.
Tech has one graduate student, one senior, five juniors, four sophomores and four true freshmen.
Nine Golden Eagles stand 6-foot-5 or taller while the other six measure in at 6-foot-4 or shorter.
Nine members are new to the Tech squad for 2020-21, including Damaria Franklin, CJ Gettelfinger, Shandon Goldman, Austin Harvell, Marcus Hopkins, Taelon Peter, Jalen Stayton, Jamaal Thompson and Kenny White Jr.
Photo by Randy Sartin
